The Key to Survival
by Purple Lemonade Can
Summary: Set after the end of S3, Clarke, Bellamy and the others return to Arkadia to try to resume life as normal whilst Abby and Kane stay in Polis to negotiate with the Coalition. However, trying to pick up life is harder than it might seems, and they learn that the key to survival is not never giving up, but finding a reason to live... Clarke x Bellamy
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own the 100 or any of the characters portrayed below**

The sun rose over Arkadia, the same as it had every day since the sparse camp was erected months ago. Months, Clarke thought, yes it had only been months since the Ark, carrying with it relations of the 100, had crash-landed on Earth – this hostile, Grounder-filled environment. Relations – friends and family, such as her own mother, Abby, as well as shadowy figures from the past. As the 100 were unanimously composed of criminals, it was inevitable that some reunions weren't going to be as happy as others. But they had hardly had time to ruminate on this, as they faced trouble from the occupants of Mount Weather, and then had to act together to do common good.

"Good", Clarke bitterly thought, with a wry smile. A smile that masked the sheer pain and regret of the Mount Weather escapade – regret that she had only just been able to come to terms with – with Bellamy's help, of course. Clarke gave a genuine smile at that, although small, thinking of Bellamy. With so much action and trauma, feelings had seemed like a waste of time – why regret what couldn't be fixed? Only recently had she and Bellamy talked about what happened in Mount Weather, and her surprise at his own vulnerability was only exceeded by surprise at her own. Had she truly spent so much time around Grounders that pain was weakness? Pain, there was going to be enough of that now, considering A.L.I.E's invasion and, now, disappearance. We all had to live with pain though – it was one of life's many pleasures…

'Hey'

Clarke snapped out of her reverie. 'Clarke, are you ok?'

Clarke looked up and saw Bellamy towering over her, her scarred face holding none of the usual ferocity, so common in many of them these days. His voice was soft, eyes concerned, brow furrowed. As she turned her head to look up at him, he felt a tear slide down her neck. She hadn't even realised she was crying.

'Umm' Her voice was weak and cracked – how much time had passed, sitting on these rocks just outside Arkadia, facing the rising sun? 'Yeah Bell, I'm fine'

Bellamy sat down beside her on the rocks. The dirt was slightly damp from the downpour they had experienced last night – winter was coming and Clarke and Bellamy both knew that Skaikru would need to really get their act together if they wanted to survive. After A.L.I.E, so many had gone – as Lexa had slaughtered them in the City of Light to protect Clarke, they had died. Or, more accurately, they had met the same fate as Ontari – they were brain dead, their minds were gone, lost forever. Although their relatives had wanted to keep them, the bodies soon starved, hearts stopped beating. It was painful, Bellamy had to admit, but if he had learnt one thing these past few months, it was that pain was necessarily bad – or that the lack of pain wasn't necessarily good.

Anyway, the population of Skaikru had plummeted, and the Coalition left leaderless. Kane and Abby had stayed in Polis to enter negotiations with the rest of the Grounders, whilst Clarke and Bellamy had taken the remaining members of Arkadia back home. Now they were left with no supplies and an uncertain amount of land to use – no one knew what the Grounder negotiations were coming to – not to mention hundreds of haunted, shattered people, who had done unforgivable deeds. Deeds which they couldn't forget.

The camp had held an emergency election – probably a good move as Chancellor Pike was dead, and the three previous Chancellors, Abby, Kane and Jaha, were all otherwise occupied – trying to stop a war. As Clarke and Bellamy had been the primary leaders of the resistance against A.L.I.E, they had been the main contenders for the position, despite still being so young. Bellamy had won in the end, a result of mistrust in Clarke after she had gone walkabout after Mount Weather, but he knew that he couldn't do this without her. He couldn't bear the burden of making vital decisions, and trying to protect their people, alone.

As noise from the direction of Arkadia started to grow, Bellamy stood up, and offered his hand to Clarke. She took it and stood up with him, they both gazed regretfully at the camp behind them before looking at each other. Shared understanding of the enormity of their task passed between them, as they sighed and started to walk towards their home.

* * *

'Heya Clarke…' Clarke glanced up from her work station to see Raven peering from around the corner smiling at her. Clarke was a bit puzzled to see her acting so…well….fine. Considering everything.

'Uh hi Raven, what's up?' Clarke had just organising the new Grounder medicines she had learnt about whilst in Polis as the 13th Clan representative, in the medical bay. Raven entered the room, and leaned against the wall opposite Clarke.

'Well, it seems like the medical bay isn't busy' – an understatement, as Clarke looked around and saw it was empty – 'so I was wondering if you wanted to take a walk outside the camp'. Huh? Clarke knew Raven was a bit of a workaholic – she could normally never be dragged away from her workstation – and it's not as if she had nothing to do. Power needed to be connected throughout the Arc, and many, many things needed to be fixed.

Clarke gave Raven a stern look, and the olive girl dropped her playful façade to reveal a thoroughly pissed off expression. 'Ok, Bellamy said that I should take a break, as nothing was urgent.' Another stern look from Clarke. 'Well he armed the doors to my workstation whilst I went for some food'.

Although action like this would normally have irritated Clarke beyond belief – what right did Bellamy have telling us to stop working for the greater good of Arcadia – it did put a small smile on her face. Raven could get a little obsessive over her work.

'Alright then, and I suppose this walk has an ulterior motive too?' Clarke crossed her arms, and Raven mirrored her. They knew each other too well.

'I do nothing without a purpose Wanheda - there are some plants and berries Miller said we could forage for if we wanted, to start storing for the winter. Also, Abby used to tell me to keep exercising my leg when I could.' She gave a despondent look down at the unresponsive leg, then grimaced and look back up at Clarke.

'Right, sounds like a plan, let me just grab some bags, and we can leave'. Raven lifted up two burlap sacks from behind her back with a smile.

'One step ahead of you Clarke, now let's go.'

* * *

Trekking outside the camp, it was comforting for Clarke to be with someone who didn't need to talk. Someone who, despite the initial animosity between them (for the whole Finn-fiasco a while ago) had grown to be a close friend, with a fairly similar sense of humour. Since Octavia's abrupt departure, there had only been a few of them that felt bound in this way – relatively untouched by A.L.I.E – Clarke, Raven, Monty, Harper, Miller, Bryan and Bellamy. Although they may have been divided before, when Pyke was Chancellor, the death and succumbing of everyone around them had made them tighter than before.

The grass was wet and full of colour and there was a silence, interrupted by only the distant sounds from Arkadia – business as usual. As the two girls tramped through the forest together, Raven stopped and pointed, somewhat excitedly.

'Clarke, look. Is that it?' Clarke looked towards the bush of bright red berries and compared it with the drawing, copied from Lincoln's book before Octavia had disappeared with it.

'Yeah, looks about right...' The blond girl, despite Raven's obliviousness, noticed that the two had ventured to where the blockade line used to be. For some reason, unknown to her, Clarke suddenly felt very uneasy. As the mechanic started the run to the bush, Clarke saw it. 'Raven, wait-'

The impact was in slow motion, and still Clarke couldn't do anything but watch as the soft sole of Raven's shoe was pieced by the rusted iron. Saw the impact as the whole of her weight was pushed down. Heard Raven's piercing scream.

* * *

After the amount of pain that she had gone through before – the explosion and her leg, Finn, A.L.I.E – Raven didn't think it was possible for her to feel worse. However, looking down at her mangled foot, she felt revulsion. It wasn't as if she hadn't seen her share of gruesome injuries, but something about being nailed down… with a shudder she knew – it reminded her of the bodies they had crucified outside Polis.

She couldn't help it, shivers ran through her body, and she started convulsing. As she had fell, her other leg, the useless one, had twisted, making her scream. Blood was pulsing out of her foot in waves – the pointed edge of the iron was sticking out of her foot, and there were white shaving attached to it. She hoped to God that it wasn't bone – but God had stopped looking out for her a while ago.

As her pulse increased, she started hyperventilating, black spots appeared in her vision and Clarke swam in and out of focus. With relief, she slipped into unconsciousness…

* * *

As Raven fell, Clarke rushed to help her, almost forgetting to scan the grass around her for any other pieces of metal. Feel sick, she noticed that there was a clump of iron screws sticking out of the ground – some sort of barrier, maybe this had been some sort of blind spot in the blockade… Clarke could only thank God that Raven had fallen sideways, not forwards into the death trap.

The injury was bad, and Raven was losing a lot of blood and didn't seem to be able to stay awake. Clarke, although generally quite level-headed, was feeling the urgency of the situation. As a doctor, she knew that she couldn't save this patient out in the forest alone. Giving a desperate glance back in the direction of the camp, common sense told her that she was too far away for them to hear her, but, looking at Raven, however strong Clarke might be, she couldn't lift her. But she couldn't leave her either. Animals would be attracted to the scent of her blood, and who knew the Grounders' allegiance at this moment anyway?! Even besides that, Raven was losing too much blood, and it was against a doctor's instinct to leave a patient unattended.

The warrior scanned her surroundings, but had no hope. Maybe her mum could have done something dramatic, like make bandages out of her shirt or do an emergency blood transfusion, but, out here in the forest, the risk of infection was too high. As it was, the rusty screw turned her stomach – Raven could be dead within the hour.

Clarke felt frustration build up within her – another one of her friends was not going to die on her, but she didn't know what to do! Out of desperation, she started screaming, as she tried to create a tourniquet to stop blood loss from the leg.

'Bellamy….. Bellamy… Bellamy….', then cut off her sob and concentrated on the task at hand, as she tightened the tourniquet and steeled herself to remove the screw by force.

* * *

Bellamy was outside Arkadia hunting with a group, trying to collect enough meat to store over winter. He knew it wasn't a bright idea, leaving camp now, as Clarke and Raven were probably outside Arkadia now anyway, foraging, and some sort of leader needed to be there in case something happened. But he had been planning this hunt all week, and he wasn't just going to cancel it because Clarke decided that she wanted to be outside. Bellamy did admit that a little of his frustration was due to the hunt's progress – and that was pitiful. The group just didn't have any sort of cohesion – they were just a bunch of adults and kids who happened to fall from the sky together. Bellamy wouldn't admit that the hunt's failure was in any way down to his distraction – that being the urgency to collect food. How ironic that this worry stopped him being able to complete the task.

He gave a huff of frustration and vowed he would give it another hour before returning. As the group creeped forward, further and further away from Arkadia, Harper spotted some deer tracks. Finally, Bellamy thought, we might get lucky. Moving closer and closer towards the stream, where the tracks headed, they hid in the undergrowth as a beautiful doe bent over to drink from the rushing water. He almost felt bad as he signalled to one of the adults – he hadn't bothered learning their names yet – to get in position with a crossbow. On the count of three… one… two…..

The deer looked up and a flock of birds took flight in the trees, the wildlife seemed disturbed. Bellamy gave the signal just as the deer started to run. The whistling bolt pierced its rear and brought it thudding to the ground as the animal made a screaming noise. Quickly Bellamy finished it off with a bullet to the head – he felt sick. But that was survival. Miller came over and clapped him on the back.

'Finally got something, hey Bell'

'We got lucky, something spooked it' He was distracted, trying to figure out why the animals were restless when he heard a cry – a human one this time – piece through the dense trees to his left. It was clear, as though coming from about a kilometre away, and what it was shouting was plain as day. His name. It was Clarke.

 **A/N Hey guys, thanks for reading. Please leave a review telling me what you thought of it. Will be updated soon.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own the 100 or any of the characters below**

 **A/N: Thanks for reading :)**

Chapter 2

Miller looked round at the others, making sure they all heard this, and turned back round to Bellamy, in time to see him sprinting off in the direction of the shout. Shaking his head, Miller arranged for the doe, strung up against a stick, to be carried back to camp, whilst more hunters followed him after Bellamy. As they started to run, following the route the leader had blazed through the bush, Miller hoped he hadn't run straight into trouble – it had always been obvious that Bellamy felt something for Clarke, even if it was just overdressed respect, but that was no way to act as the more-or-less Chancellor!

'If the Grounders don't kick his ass I sure will' he panted to Harper as they galloped off.

* * *

Clarke was sweating a lot – she thought that she would be used to these sorts of high pressure situations by now, but it was always harder when it was a friend. A friend who had returned back to consciousness and was really trying not the scream, as she bit down hard on a bit of leather Clarke had with her, whilst Clarke tried to untwist a screw from her only working foot. With only one set of hands, she was 100% overwhelmed – there was no one to hold Raven down, or put pressure on the tourniquet as she tried to manoeuvre around a rusting piece of metal – taking it out without it disintegrating. Sweat ran down her face, stinging her eyes and blurring her vision – or was that just tears? She didn't know anymore, she almost didn't care.

When the sound of crashing was too loud to avoid, Clarke prayed for the best but expected the worst – hostile Grounders or Reavers. She wasn't expecting the wave of relief she felt when Bellamy shouted her name and came up behind her, holding her shoulders as if to keep her from falling apart. Clarke found herself shouting over the rushing in her ears as more Skaikru tumbled through the brush.

'We were foraging and – then I saw it – but she fell – and it's gone through – she can't walk-'

Bellamy motioned for two of the hunters to pick Raven up whilst he knelt down on the damp green floor of the forest. He placed his warm hands on Clarke's shivering shoulders, and his large, reassuring brown eyes focussed in on her nervous, darting blue ones.

'What do we need to do? Can we move her back to camp?' Clarke pressed her lips together, seeing blood drain out of Raven's foot, now that it was vertical, and nodded. Bellamy swung round to his crew, and barked at them.

'Come on, back to camp, let's run.' They turned and pushed their way back through the scruff, as he turned to Clarke and helped her up. 'Are you ok? Can you walk?' She nodded brusquely, looking down, embarrassed, for some reason, of her fear for Raven. They started moving together, after the other, and arrived at Arkadia breathless and panting.

When Clarke entered through the gates, a small crowd had gathered which parted like water as she ran for the medical bay. Raven had been lain out on the table, and the room was filled with people – Jasper, Monty, Miller, Harper and a few of the original 100 Clarke had been training as medics. Bellamy had his arm around her, herding her towards Raven and shouting at anyone that didn't immediately move out of the way.

'Everyone get out' he roared, before looking at Clarke. 'Who do you need?' he asked quickly, as if not to overrule her. Clarke's head was clearing as she was in the familiar surroundings of her home – she knew where she was and what to do.

'Everyone out except for you and you' she commanded, motioning to her two interns and Bellamy. The others reluctantly filed out, as Clarke hesitantly looked down at Raven splayed out in front of her. 'Ok, Trisha' she said to one of her interns, a small, serious girl of about 15, 'we're going to need general anaesthetic'…

* * *

Two hours later, Clarke, limping and exhausted, left the medical room and sat down in the metal corridor outside. Sinking to the ground she put her head in her hands and rubbed her eyes until she saw red spots. The whoosh of the doors made her look up, and she saw Bellamy, looking equally worse for wear, come and squat down beside her.

'You did good, Clarke' he said gravely – something he wouldn't have had to say if she hadn't been so emotionally invested in the case. She'd had too many people she loved dying on her, she couldn't risk another. 'Come on, let's go clean up, Princess' at the mention of her old nickname, she gave a little half-smile and leaned into Bellamy's chest.

'So much has changed, Bell.' As she said this, she saw the faces of everyone who had come and gone flash in front of her eyes – Atom, Wells, Charlotte, Sinclair, Lincoln, Finn, Lexa….

'But we're still here'. As Clarke ducked her head, to avoid looking at him, lest she cry, he watched her. _I've always been here Clarke. You were the one who left me._

* * *

When Clarke went to see Raven the next morning – the interns had stepped in to cover for her overnight and Bellamy had insisted – the girl was sitting up in the bed looking listless. Clarke immediately felt guilty that she hadn't been there for Raven during the night – a fact which the patient would have known. As she edged into the room, Raven looked up straight away, but instead of the anger which Clarke might have earned, it was a just a half smile.

'Well isn't it the wunderkind herself' Raven crossed her armed and jerked her chin up at Clarke from across the room. 'These two haven't stopped singing your praises oh Mighty One'. At that Trisha and Kieran exchanged looks and blushed, scuttling out of the room. Clarke watched them go and turned back to Raven. 'You know I heard that I might be able to walk again if there are no more complications. Picked the wrong leg to bang up though, huh?'

'Let me redo your bandages'. The two sat in silence, Raven occasionally wincing and the wound was redressed. 'It's healing up pretty nicely considering, but there's still a massive risk of infection'. Raven looked down at her lap and fiddled with her hands. Clarke reached over and squeezed one, 'It's ok, at least the Ark brought down some disinfectants so we had a fighting chance.' Raven looked up at Clarke.

'Wow, way to make a girl feel special.' The two smiled, and Clarke got up.

'In all seriousness, Raven, I think you'll be fine – you could probably even move to your workstation tomorrow'. At that concession Raven's eyes light up.

'Now that's what I'm talking about'

As Clarke left the medical bay, she bumped into Bellamy lurking outside, leaning on the wall. As soon as he saw her, he abruptly stood up straight and moved towards her.

'Clarke, how is she?' He seemed really concerned, and Clarke remembered, with a wry smile, that he and Raven had a thing a while ago.

'She's fine, Bellamy, if infection doesn't set in she'll be up and running in days. Probably less if we know her...' At this he smiled, and his easy demeanour returned.

'Nice going, Princess'. They started to meander down the corridor together. Now that Raven was off her mind, something else Clarke had been worried about returned to the fore. They had been back at the Ark for nearly a week and, besides herself, the only people she had told were Abby and Kane – and that was because they were about to enter some very important negotiations.

'Bellamy' she turned in the hall, so she was facing him, 'there's something very important I need to talk to you about today'. Bellamy's mind was reeling, something about her tone was serious – more serious than when she was talking about her patients, which meant something very bad. At that moment Kieran ran from the medical bay, back where they'd walked from.

'Clarke… Clarke…' she huffed breathlessly, 'some kid fell over and broke her arm. It's nothing that bad, but we thought you'd like to know. The father was asking for you especially.' Clarke turned to the girl who slightly older than Trisha.

'Ok then, I'm on my way', she noticed Bellamy watching her intently and spun back to see him. 'Can I see you tonight? In your quarters? It's important.' He gave a curt nod, and she followed Kieran back down the pseudo-emergency, unaware that Bellamy followed her with his eyes, with an expression that, even if she'd seen, she would still be unable to identify.

* * *

That evening, Bellamy was pacing his small room, which served as both an office and sleeping quarters, waiting for Clarke to arrive. More than ever, he wished he knew where Octavia was, why she had gone, but all she had left with was 'Don't coming looking for me, Bell, I need to find my home'. Octavia always used to talk so much, especially about Clarke and Raven, them being her main female friends. Bellamy would amusedly listen to her describe stories and share gossip with him. Even when Lincoln came in the picture, she still turned to him when she wanted advice, or just someone to talk to. They were family. And because of him, she had left, because of what he'd let happen to Lincoln. Words echoed through his mind _'I have to live with what I've done'_ and he knew that, even if just for O, he regretted everything.

A tentative know on the door stopped him pacing and he tried to compose himself. Even so he heard his voice waver when he called to Clarke 'Come in'. He offered her a seat and took one next to her. As they sat, Bellamy steeled himself to look up at Clarke – what he saw shocked him. Her face was gaunt and pale, and she was looking down at her lap. She took a deep breath, and looked up. Their eyes met.

As Clarke's quavering eyes met Bellamy's steady ones, she knew the time had come. And she also knew that she should have told him earlier.

'Bellamy, when I was… in Polis when I went to the City of Light… I saw Becca. I saw A.L.I.E too. She was telling me things… I didn't know if they were true at the time but I've just had word from my mum and Kane…' Clarke drifted off. This morning she had received news from Abby and Kane who, upon hearing the news, had sent out specialist teams to locate the two nearest nuclear power stations, to try and validate or disprove A.L.I.E's claim. They returned yesterday.

A hand softly brushed a stray hair off her cheek and she saw Bellamy, he was off his chair and kneeling on the floor in front of her. This other hand was resting on hers which was on her lap. She knew that she must tell him now, she owed him that much. 'A.L.I.E told me that the Earth's remaining nuclear power plants are going to leak. Or have been leaking. Whatever the case the Earth will be so full of radiation it will be inhabitable in six months' time.'

Silence. She raised her eyes to Bellamy slowly. His face was blank for a second, then it flickered to life. His brow furrowed.

'Ok, but do you know if A.L.I.E was telling the truth about the nuclear power plants? And if she was, maybe she was calculating for a normal human, like those in Mount Weather, not us. We've adapted to the radiation, so have the Grounders. If it's a slow leak, we could survive.'

Clarke was amazed at him; far from the normal human response, which would be either stunned silence or unfiltered panic, Bellamy still knew what to do in the face of disaster. Even a disaster as unstoppable as this. However, she had to shake her head.

'Sorry Bell, it's true. My mum and Kane, I told them when I found out. So they could investigate it. It's true.' A pause and 'I'm sorry I didn't tell you'…

'Clarke, you panicked… but you can trust me' His deep eyes seemed more sad that Clarke didn't trust him enough to tell him straight away, than at the fact that the world as they knew it was potentially ending. One problem at a time. 'Who else knows?'

'No-one, only my mum and Kane, as well as a few people they sent out to visit the nuclear power plants – but they didn't fully explain the situation to them anyway. They might have been forced to tell some of the Grounders, but I don't think so…' A sob escaped her. 'We're going to die and there's nothing I can do about it! Not this time…' Before she could help herself, she found she was crying, heaving great big sobs. She felt so alone.

She was such a mess, so unaware of herself. Bellamy tried to help her up but she wavered and nearly fell, only stopped by Bellamy catching her. He gently carried her over to his bed and laid her down on it, drawing one of the chairs over from the study for him to sit on.

He wanted to help her, but he felt so lost – she had done so much without him, championed the 13th clan, advised Lexa, defeat A.L.I.E, that there was nothing he could offer her. She had outgrown him, and now he didn't know what to do. He felt a hand, wet with tears, snake over and grab his shirt pathetically, and he held on to it, gently stroking her.

'Clarke…' he didn't want to disturb her but '…do you know where Octavia is?' Immediately Clarke felt guilty – she had forgotten that Octavia was his top priority, obviously he wanted to know where she was in this time of crises. She smeared her hand across her face and half sat up.

'Yeah, I heard from Kane that she is staying with Indra at her Grounder village for a while… I wasn't meant to tell you…' Bellamy's face flooded with relief.

'At least I know where she is, although I _will_ go and get her if things with Grounders go sour…' He trailed off. Neither of them really knew what to say, what to do. 'So, what do we do?' Bellamy broke the silence, asking the question that both of them knew she didn't have an answer for.

'We can't go and shut down every power station on Earth, it would take years to travel there and that's assuming that we have enough people who know how to contain the leak… I suppose our only other options are to go down or….up….' They shared a look, and Clarke just suddenly felt so tired, she wanted someone to hold her and make her feel protected – she missed the warmth Lexa gave her. The feeling of being wanted. She moved forwards, place her weight on her hands as she leaned in towards Bellamy. He was still looking down at his lap, and he didn't notice her come closer. 'I suppose' Clarke whispered huskily, 'that we live like today's our last day…' Bellamy looked up and felt her placing her hands on his thighs, slowly rubbing them as her legs remained on the bed. Her glassy blue eyes were smouldering, wanting something that Bellamy knew he could give her, her shirt had fallen open at the neck and he could see the top of her breasts. He could feel heat rising in his groin, and he knew that he had wanted this ever since they had touched down on Earth – her strength and determination, especially compared with the comparative weakness of all the other girls he had been with, leant her an undeniable attraction. She moved closer, tugging at his shirt with one hand, whilst the other moving higher up his leg. But as much as he wanted, _needed_ this, he couldn't.

She grabbed Clarke's wrist at his chest and looked into her eyes. He had known her long enough, been close enough to her, to see past the lust that she projected, into the vulnerability behind. She just wanted protecting.

'Clarke, no'. She pouted for a second, trying to cover her hurt, and looked pointedly down at Bellamy.

'It doesn't seem like you don't want to…' She trailed off, smugly. Bellamy sighed, being a friend to Clarke right now was more important than his physical desires. He gently, but firmly, picked her back up and put her against the head of the bed. Kicking off his shoes, he sat down next to her, staring ahead. Tentatively, he put an arm round her, and she curled into his side.

'I'm sorry, Bell, I just feel so alone right now.' And as he gently stroked her arm and she drifted off to sleep, he knew that he had done the right thing…

 **A/N Don't worry guys, Bellarke is still alive, it just needs time to develop...**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N : Thanks for the follows, keep reading :)  
**

* * *

Chapter 3

The next morning Bellamy called a meeting in his office, inviting Clarke, Monty, Jasper, Raven, Miller, Bryan and Harper. Although Clarke had been loath to tell others, Bellamy had insisted, saying that they needed all the help they could get, and it was hard to disagree with that statement. So they filtered into the room, Raven carried by Miller, and took seats, Bellamy strode amongst them and was the last to sit.

'We have an issue.' He stated – to the point, no point skirting about the problem. Jasper rolled his eyes and smirked, looking over at Monty.

'Don't we always?' Bellamy gave him a silencing glare – except it didn't really work, considering that they _did_ always seemed to have an issue. 'Well, what is it this time?' He was laid back in his chair, looking round at everyone in the room, 'Grounders, Reavers, revenge-seekers, evil A.I?' Harper gave a wry smile.

'Guys!' Bellamy was frustrated already, faced with a near-impossible task, and he wasn't going to tolerate them wasting time like this. 'Clarke found out something when in the City of Light and we're here to brainstorm ideas.' Immediately that got a reaction. No-one had forgotten how close the human race had come to extinction at the hand of something inhuman. A.L.I.E wasn't really a topic you could laugh about.

Bellamy looked over at Clarke – he wanted her to tell them. Great, Clarke thought, it wasn't like she was consistently the bearer of bad news.

'Well,' she sighed, let's not beat around the bush, 'in less than six months' time the remaining nuclear power stations on Earth will explode making the entire planet uninhabitable. The human race will be over. For good this time'. Silence. Well, what else did she expect? When confronted with the news herself, she had wasted precious minutes thinking about it, when she needed to activate A.L.I.E's kill switch. A decision that, she now acknowledged, may have led to the end of the human race.

'So we need to think of what we can do.' Bellamy's strong and definitive voice left no room for dissent – they had to do something, and soon. Clarke was grateful for his strength, really. She had rarely met others who had such forbearance to power through such a sensitive topic. Raven was the first to respond.

'So what do you expect us to do about it?' A very good point, Bellamy conceded, as he wasn't really too sure himself.

'Well, as I see it, we have two main options – escape from it, or stop it. To stop it, we would need to contain or stop the leaks from all the surrounding area, and to escape it… well we'd need something like the Ark.' He looked over at Raven, then, and her eyes widened as she understood what he was saying.

'Nope.' She conclusively folded her arms over her chest, 'There is no way that we have the time or resources to build another Ark, or even a rocket. That would take years at best, and still only hold about 10 people. The Ark was built up in space just like the space stations it's made out of, they were assembled up in space after rockets transported the pieces us there. It's just not possible.'

Bellamy gave a nod, right, well that was a dead end.

'Ok, so we either build some sort of containment centre, like Mount Weather, or we shut them down.' At the mention of Mount Weather, Jasper's easy demeanour slipped, and his shoulders bunched up near his ears. Well, Bellamy thought, we hardly have time to tread on eggshells around him. We can't just act like it's not a possibility. Clarke, who had been quiet up until now, spoke up from where she was sitting on Bellamy's desk. Seeing her perched like that, legs crossed and shoulders back, reminded him of last night, and he had to wrestle with his thoughts to bring them back to the matter at hand.

'We have to consider all possibilities, Jasper. Somehow I doubt it holds nice memories for anyone here, but at least it served its purpose.'

'That's true,' Harper piped up, 'but they had enormous supplied of food, not the mention a small population – there's no way we could fit the whole human population down there.' There was an awkward pause and Bellamy knew he had to say it – someone did.

'It may need to be a last resort.'

'But how will we fit all the Grounders down there too?' asked Miller. Bellamy looked over at Clarke. She had the same hard expression on her face. _Who we are and who we need to be to survive are two very different things._

'If it's to ensure the survival of the human race… Then I'm willing to make that decision'. Clarke looked at him.

'We're willing to make that decision. Together.' She smiled at him, 'But we're going to need to do something else, too. I think that shutting off the nearest plants will buy us time.'

'There is quite a big problem though', quipped Monty, 'we don't know where we are'.

'There are maps of Earth on the Ark's database that I can get into, we just need to determine where we are, and then I can search the nearest plants'. Monty looked over.

'Actually, Raven, it's even simpler than that – I think that there's a GPS system hidden in the database, as the Ark was originally going to orbit the Earth, so we can tap into that and find our coordinates.'

The group smiled at each other – there seemed to be a light in the darkness.

'Now the next problem', Bellamy acknowledged, moving on, 'We need to shut these things down safely. Any ideas?'

'Uhhh, I can name several people who could do it', said Clarke regretfully, 'except Sinclair and Pike are both dead, and I'm not sure who else is up for the job…'

'I know how to do it' Raven said, shifting in her seat, 'but...' she looked down at her legs – one of which was paralysed and the other suffering from a day-old injury.

'I can', Bellamy turned to Jasper.

'You can?'

'Sure, Monty may be the wiz kid with electronics, but I was the mad scientist of this duo'. Monty conceded with a smile.

'It's true'

'Great', Bellamy exhaled, for a life-threatening catastrophic event, it was panning out quite well. 'If Raven and Monty could check the database for where we are and the nearest problems, we can organise teams to go out by tomorrow. We can't be sure of how many we'll need, yet, but we can contact Abby and Kane in Polis and talk to the Grounders about it.'

'Sounds like a plan, let's get out of here.'

* * *

As Bellamy opened the door for the gang, they filed out duly, and he felt something other than despair, something that a while ago he might have called hope. These days he had forgotten what it felt like. You could almost say he was feeling pretty relaxed about the situation, that is until he noticed Clarke at his arm, who refused to leave with the others. Sighing internally, he realised that by dismissing the meeting he had jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire.

'Bellamy', Clarke was looking at him, a bit embarrassed 'look, I'm sorry for last night'. Her hands were furiously worrying each other, as she kept a straight face. Bellamy sighed and put an arm on her arm.

'It's honestly fine, Clarke. You were just missing Lexa – none of us have come out of this unscathed.' Clarke gave a sad smile at that – even after being apart for months, he still knew her, knew how to read her. However, Bellamy's relief left him when she looked back up at him, a little puzzled but more openly. He knew what was coming.

'Why didn't you?' Bellamy ran his hand through his thick dark curls as Clarke impishly grinned up at him. Shit, this wasn't going to be an easy one. 'I mean, is it just the whole 'friends' thing? Because I distinctly remember you sleeping with Raven...' Ahhh yes, trust Clarke to call him out of his moment of bad judgement.

'None of us knew what we were doing back then, Princess' she smiled at the use of her old epithet 'and, yes, since you ask, I've decided to not make a habit of sleeping with friends. Especially as the camp is looking to us for support. It wouldn't be good for us to bicker about a one-night stand.' Bellamy's voice turned to a sneer at the end of his sentence and pushed away from the wall, turning away from Clarke. She was completely taken back – how had he gone from gentle teasing to this – the old Bellamy? She was irked too, how dare he talk to her like she was just some kid, like she didn't know what she was doing last night?

'I never said it would be a one-night stand.' She stood her ground, feet apart and hands into fists down by her side. Bellamy turned to look at her, about half way across the room. He was caught unawares by her comment and he hadn't had time to wipe away his expression. Clarke could still see the indignant and upset look painted across his face.

'Stop trying to make yourself feel better about it, Clarke, it's over. Just go'. Clarke, still infuriated, whirled round and stomped off down the hall as Bellamy sunk into his armchair and cradled his head in his hands – with Clarke, if it wasn't one extreme it was another…

* * *

 **Sorry it was a very dialogue-centred chapter - not much Bellarke! But just trying to progress the story, fluff will come!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer - I don't own anything!**

Chapter 4

It was later on in the day, when Bellamy was reviewing the food stocks, that Monty came running up to him with a sheaf of papers. He recognised the shading on them and felt a twist of unease in his stomach as he thought of the blonde whose characteristic pencil strokes had the created the maps before him.

'It worked' Monty was beaming, proffering his work, 'Raven and I worked the GPS and got into the old Ark files – we got data and we even managed to drag Clarke away from the med bay to make it visual, with maps and stuff.' Monty gave him a sideways look, 'By the way, Clarke seemed a bit pissed – you know that now's not the best time to be causing arguments…' Bellamy made such an affronted face that Monty had to laugh.

'And why do you think _I_ started it?' He jutted his chin out and crossed his arms. Monty just shook his head with an amused grin on his face and shoved the papers at his chest.

'Sure, man…' and he sauntered off. Bellamy gave a pout and looked closer at the papers. Clarke's work really was beautiful, and, when paired with the sheets of data Monty and Raven had provided, giving GPS coordinates and distances to locations, it may just be their saving grace.

'Time to get these to the big boss' he muttered as he strode out of the pantry towards his office, as he planned a trip to Polis.

* * *

'No.' Well that wasn't unexpected to be honest – sometimes Bellamy had to remind himself that Clarke wasn't fighting him every step of the way. Though it sure felt like it.

'You're place is here with your people. You're their leader.'

'My people? Are you not one of us anymore, Clarke? Or just eager to go back to being the centre of attention in Polis?'

The two of them were stood opposite each other in the medical room, where Bellamy had visited her after reviewing the details. After she had dismissed her latest patient and listened to his proposal, it didn't take long for her to outright reject it.

'It would only be for a few days – a week at most.' Bellamy was planning to visit Polis – from what he had heard, another Commander had been chosen from the Nightbloods – one who, although not as lenient towards Skaikru as Lexa, certainly understood the need for temporary peace after the horrific nightmare which they had all recently come through. He needed to explain the situation to all of them, and present them with the rough semblance of a plan they had. Unfortunately, Clarke was doing her usual and trying to veto his actions.

'What if something happened in Polis? People look up to you, Bellamy, you can't leave them now!' Bellamy gave a harsh smile at that, remembering the same conversation that they seemed to always have. Once before the rest of the Ark landed, and he tried to run from Jaha, and again when he begged Clarke to stay after irradiating Mount Weather. It hadn't escaped his notice that on only one of these occasions did the escapee actually stay.

'So what do you propose then, Clarke?' Bellamy was tired of this – he wanted her blessing, but he would go without it. It seemed that the girl in question was also tired, Bellamy looked at her face and saw dark marks under her red eyes – neither of them had been sleeping well recently. 'I know it's not ideal for either of us to go, any of us really, we all have things we could be doing, healing people, organise the stores, supply electricity to the camp… but this is important, we need to take action fast.' Clarke sighed, she knew it was true, but that didn't make it any easier to accept.

'Ok, fine. I should probably go – I know the people there, how to do things. Raven can't move, but maybe Monty? Jasper too…' Clarke braced herself for the next inevitable comment.

'And what about me, Princess?' He gazed up at her from beneath long lashes, so feminine it seemed an absurd contradiction to his clenched muscles, knotted on his arms and visible beneath his taunt shirt.

'You…' she faltered. It was important that Bellamy met with the Grounders, showed that he was the one in control of the Sky People at the moment, but she couldn't risk something happening to both of them in Polis… 'You can come…' she muttered reluctantly, 'but only if you can find a suitable substitute who can lead the people whilst we're gone. Who can' she swallowed, ' _take action_ if need be…'

Bellamy grinned at her, and she couldn't help smiling back.

'Now if you'll excuse me, Doctor, I must go and find Miller and talk to him about certain responsibilities he may need to undertake in the near future…' He winked back at Clarke as he left the room, and Clarke was left wondering whether this unsteady equilibrium would ever rest. Could they live in peace together these days? Or had just too much happened to set them at odds?

* * *

At the gates, Bellamy gazed back at his people – they had assembled in a dreary mob to send him off. Not cheering, as the 100 might once have, but not unhappy either. There was a wary trust of the leader – many remembered how ruthlessly yet effectively he led the delinquents through the early horrors of the Earth, yet his latest exploits with Pike still lay fresh in minds too. He met his crowd of confidents at the gate – Clarke, Monty, Jasper and a few of the older guards heading off with him, and Raven, Harper, Miller and Bryan saying farewell. Bellamy gripped Miller's forearm and pulled him close in a hug, whispering in his ear.

'You look after them. Thank you.' Miller nodded at him and they locked eyes. Bellamy trusted him to do right – he always did.

The group leaving hefted their bags and headed off, walking in the direction of the local Grounder village. They had agreed to buy and collect horses whilst there, to carry them the long distance they would have to traverse. Bellamy tried to think about the journey ahead – a lot would depend on this going well. Looking across at Clarke, he could tell by her pensive yet determined expression that she was thinking the same thing right now.

* * *

As the group approached the Grounder village, the inhabitants hushed, and moved around quietly – the elders keeping their gazes down whilst the youngers looked up with awe and reverence. Although they didn't recognise Bellamy – definitely for the best, considering that he was part of the group that had massacred the defenceless army – it was hard to forget Clarke. The famous Wanheda who, for better or worse, had been Lexa's confident, her favourite. They also understood that she had been instrumental in the fall of the murderous regime of Ontari, or, more accurately, A.L.I.E.

Bellamy went ahead silently, and collected the horses, paying for them quietly and leading them towards the others, who each took a set of reigns. It would take about a week to get to Polis – through hard riding and minimal rest, they intended to make it in four days. Time wasn't exactly on their side. As they mounted their horses, and secured supplies in their saddle bags, Clarke was reminded of the last time she had ridden a horse along this route – it had been one Titus had given her to find Luna. After Lexa had died. Clarke chewed her lip silently and nudge the horse on until they were all standing outside the gates and staring at the road ahead. She turned to her left and saw Monty and Jasper – both looking a little confused at the prospect of riding any horse, let alone one from the Grounders. Monty was holding the reigns so tightly that his knuckles had gone white, and he was hunched forward, looking dead ahead in intense concentration. Jasper, sitting next to him, was holding the reigns oddly, with his thumbs facing towards him, and leaning back in his saddle. Somewhere along the line he had found a bit of wheat which he had stuck in his mouth and was lazily chewing. Clarke kind of wanted to laugh, although she will still very confused – he looked like he was trying to imitate cowboys of the Wild West they had heard about in stories.

Looking at them together, they made the perfect pair – one obviously frazzled by the pure concept of riding a horse, and the other feeling like it was a game, and just living in the moment. For a second, Clarke was struck with the thought that they looked kind of like they did when they first arrived – they were all still kids in some ways, new to experiences that the Grounder children had known for years. Jasper gave her a cheeky grin as he caught her looking. She swore that if she caught him wearing goggles… well… something bad would happen to him.

She whirled back to the front and turned to her right, seeing Bellamy close behind her. He was watching her steadfastly, and with an earthy assurance. Enough to allow her to exchange nods and kick her horse, so the group of them cantered off down the beat track.

 **A/N: thanks for reading :) Please review**


End file.
